Mandolin master
Before Avi Avital came along, there were few classical mandolinists worth remembering. The dashing Israeli virtuoso changed all that. He returns to the Twin Cities for a recital with the outstanding Brazilian guitar siblings Sérgio and Odair Assad, featuring music by Bach, Haydn, Bartók and Piazzolla. (7:30 p.m. Tue., 10:30 a.m. Wed.; Ordway Concert Hall, St. Paul; $24-$76, 651-224-4222 or schubert.org)
'Tonya and Nancy: The Opera'
Looks like the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics has conspired with the movie "I, Tonya" to reignite interest in a certain 1994 scandal involving U.S. figure skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. Composer Abigail Al-Doory Cross premiered an opera about the incident in 2006. Librettist Elizabeth Searle once described the piece as a satire aimed at "the media and the ultracompetitive, crazy-making skating world, a microcosm of our crazy country." Mixed Precipitation reprises its staging, an Olympics year tradition. (7:30 p.m. Wed., BlackStack Brewing, St. Paul, donation; 10 p.m. Sat., Bryant-Lake Bowl, Mpls., $10, mixedprecipitation.org)
Chamber music week
It's chamber music week at the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, with four players — violinists Francisco Fullana and Maureen Nelson, violist Hyobi Sim and cellist Sarah Lewis — performing Kodály's Serenade for Two Violins and Viola, Beethoven's Serenade in D Major and music by Brooklyn-based composer Lev Zhurbin. (7:30 p.m. Thu., Icehouse, Mpls.; 7 p.m. Fri., Capri Theater, Mpls.; 8 p.m. Sat. and 2 p.m. Sun., Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, St. Paul, $15-$20, 651-291-1144 or thespco.org)
Surviving Stalin
The Minnesota Orchestra has the power and heft necessary to match Shostakovich's 10th Symphony, the composer's intense recollection of what he called "Stalin and the Stalin years." Finnish conductor John Storgårds is guaranteed to bring interpretive insight. The program opens with Beethoven's ever-popular "Emperor" Piano Concerto, with Classical Music Hall of Fame pianist André Watts as soloist. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Orchestra Hall, Mpls.; $12-$111, 612-371-5656 or minnesotaorchestra.org)
Music for Lent
The four female singers of Twin Cities vocal ensemble Lumina bring special intimacy to their performances, like chamber music made with voices. "The Veil and the Thorn," the quartet's latest recital, offers music for the season of Lent, with the group's trademark medieval and renaissance repertoire featuring prominently. (7:30 p.m. Sat., St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, Mpls., $10, ourcathedral.org)
TERRY BLAIN
